What is family coaching?
Family coaching is essentially an advising relationship. Clients who seek our services usually face family-focused difficulties like too much fighting and arguing at home, parenting dilemmas, misbehaving kids, a recent death or divorce, life adjustments and transitions, or other challenges in daily family life that they can’t seem to resolve on their own.
Our staff consists of trained marriage and family therapists or coaches who have extensive experience in conflict resolution, communication training, grief and loss processes, and other struggles that involve more than one person. We are particularly skilled at relationship repair: resolving injuries that have estranged members from one another, stitching up old wounds inflicted by loved ones, helping battling factions find a middle ground, and guiding family members toward accountability and responsibility.
If we find that there are more serious underlying mental health issues, we enlist the support of a licensed therapist, or make referrals for auxiliary treatment that can happen in conjunction with ongoing family coaching.
Is family coaching the same as therapy?
Coaching is similar to therapy, but there are some key differences. Probably the most important difference is that family coaches do not treat mental illness. (If we see that this is the issue, appropriate referrals will be made.) Instead, family coaches advise clients regarding decisions and actions that are in the family’s best interest, considering their stated goals and unique resources. The relationship and discussion feels a little bit more direct and instructional than traditional therapy, and the course of the coaching itself may feel more structured and goal-oriented than some of the more explorative therapies.
Another key difference is that family coaches work with relationships. This means that there are rarely meetings involving only one person, since family coaches are laser-focused on repairing damage and strengthening bonds between family members. There will be times where a coach may want to sit with a single family member to prepare for an important encounter, but most of the time, there are at least two family members in the room together, working hard to improve their relationship.
How much are your services?
We offer a free 45-minute initial consultation where you’ll have the chance to give us a brief overview of what the primary issue is. We’ll discuss whether we think we’re the right fit for you, or whether we think you’d be a better fit for a licensed therapist, and make the appropriate recommendation.
If we decide to move forward, we recommend a longer initial session so that we can gather as much information as possible. That way, we can get started on solving the problem sooner. Initial meetings are usually two hours, and we charge $500 for the whole thing.
Subsequent sessions are one hour, and we have an hourly fee that ranges from $150-$350 depending on two things: (1) how many people are in the room, and (2) which coach you’re working with. More experienced coaches are more expensive.
Do you work virtually?
We do! We use the Zoom platform. We are located in Los Angeles, but have worked with families on the East Coast, in the Midwest, and in the South quite successfully. One caveat: We do not recommend virtual coaching for high-conflict families. The thing about coaching and relationship repair is that we need to be able to control the session. We have found that clients who are unable to contain their anger or frustration have a tendency to take over the Zoom session and hijack the conversation to cause even more damage. For high-conflict families who are not located in Los Angeles, we recommend our customized family retreat.
Does my whole family have to participate?
Yes and no. It’s probably best for all family members who have a stake in the issue to be actively involved in the coaching. And sometimes we disagree with you about which family members those might be. That said, there will be times throughout the coaching where we will ask to meet separately with one or more family members to work out a specific aspect of the problem that not all members need to be present for.
We also like to add individual or couples coaching to cases where it’s merited, as an auxiliary to the family coaching that is happening. We don’t work with individuals on their personal life pursuits, but we do work with smaller units of a family to help them solve an additional problem that is contributing to the larger one.
How long does it take?
It’s different for everyone. And it depends on several variables. We’ve helped families in as little as two or three meetings with very specific problems like how to tell kids about a decision to divorce. We’ve helped families in a few months resolve an ongoing argument about a major life decision. We’ve also worked with families for up to a year or so presenting with several different family issues that we’ve been able to tackle one at a time. How long it takes depends on (1) the size of the issue, (2) the willingness of members to participate, and (3) the number and frequency of life disruptions like business trips, school commitments, or vacations.
Do you offer discounts?
Yes. Please contact Jessica Tang on our main line to discuss.